Operation Myrmidon

This operation was an abortive raid on the Adour Estuary in south-western France.

[1][2] The plan was to disrupt road and rail transport between France and Spain by landing approximately 3,000 troops, consisting of two commandos, No.

[3] After embarking on the transport ships Queen Emma and Princess Beatrix, the force spent a month sailing off the French coast disguised as Spanish merchant ships.

On 5 April the ships approached the mouth of the estuary in order to carry out the landing.

However, amid bad weather, they encountered a sandbar that they had not expected and were unable to pass it; the raid was called off and the ships returned to the United Kingdom.

A man in a naval uniform addresses soldiers from a platform on a ship
Lord Louis Mountbatten addresses troops from No. 6 Commando prior to Operation Myrmidon, April 1942